


Partial

by baekiepoo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Medical, Angst, F/M, Fluff, M/M, OC can be whatever gender you want them to be basically, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suho Angst, gender-neutral oc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 00:36:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14944325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekiepoo/pseuds/baekiepoo
Summary: In lieu of having a fresh, unscathed start to your first year of medical school, you found yourself partial to someone you could never fully have.Also posted on baekiepoo.tumblr.com





	1. Preface

“About how long will this take again?”

“Five more minutes, give or take.”

You nodded and drew out a sigh, then proceeded to check your phone again for the fiftieth time. It was your first day of medical school and lucky you had a flat tire. _Great_. You regretted not getting your tires checked sooner. Heck, you regretted not getting a new car altogether. Your old Jeep was just about on its last legs and you knew this, but as of late, you had been overwhelmingly preoccupied with prepping for classes and moving in to your shiny new apartment. Car maintenance was the last thing on your mind. In fact, you initially had this entire day planned out. Thirty minutes to get ready. Thirty minutes to drive to campus. Thirty minutes to get to class. This left ample time for exploring the campus and room to casually walk to your first lecture instead of sprinting like an obvious, very lost first-year. However, now you were pushing forty minutes for the drive alone which instantly threw your perfect schedule out of whack. You were still ten minutes away from the campus.

“All done. Would you like to pay cash or card?” You sighed again, but this time in relief. You checked the time again, now for the fifty-oneth time, and asked if cash was okay. You were concerned that the process of painstakingly entering the card and billing information would take more time than you were okay with. 

“That’ll be forty dollars.” You looked at him, dumbfounded by the outrageous price, but nevertheless took out your wallet and handed over the money. You were running late and your anxiety currently overrode your frugality.

Once you arrived, with no time to look around campus or even primp in your rearview mirror to make sure you don’t look a hot mess, you immediately headed to the lecture hall in a brisk walk and prayed that your impeccable sense of direction wouldn’t betray you like your sense of punctuality had. You fortunately still had a few minutes to spare, thanks to your speeding rampage, and a bathroom was nearby, giving you enough time to at least wipe off the string of sweat building on your face. For just a minute, you regretted not incorporating exercise into your pre- first day routine. The box lifting from move-in was clearly not enough.

Finally, you entered and scanned the room for remaining seats. You spotted an empty space in the very upper back corner, which unfortunately subjected you to another bloody flight of stairs. Damn near exhausted, you plopped into the seat and promptly took out your laptop. You then looked at your phone. Five minutes before class starts. You muttered a brief thanks to God and turned your attention back to your laptop until the voice next to you suddenly interjected.

“You’re late, you know.” Your eyes didn’t leave the screen, as you were scrolling through your mail to scan for any potentially missed emails.

“We have five minutes, relax. I’m early.” It was almost as though your comment was to reassure yourself that it was fine, rather than the nosy stranger. You now began to download lecture notes and whatever other required material you thought might be necessary. The voice continued.

“The keyword is lucky, not early. Dr. Na has a tendency to start his lectures early, I hear. Today it appears that he’s running late as well.”

You glanced over at the stranger for the briefest moment, wondering why you were still entertaining this. The voice was very friendly, charming even, but the high from attempting to arrive on time still had you on edge, causing you to respond curtly. “Guess his late is my early then, huh?”

“I also heard that Dr. Na doesn’t allow technology the first few days. I’m not sure why, but if I had to guess, maybe it’s to test our knowledge and see how we keep up or something.”

“Okay.” You shut your laptop, exasperated, and turned to get a full look at the owner of this voice. 

He was already staring back at you, his eyes wide and doe-eyed, much like a deer in headlights, which was likely a reaction to the way you just slammed your laptop. Despite his alarmed look, he was surprisingly handsome. He had dark brown eyes and dark brown hair to match which lightly veiled his thick, yet well manicured eyebrows. His features were angular yet soft, and his skin lightly glistened. His cheeks were lightly dusted in pink too, though probably also in reaction to your flub. Again, he was quite pretty. Too pretty even, which caused you to fluster and muddle over your next few words. 

“H-how do you know all this again?”

He blinked and paused, as if to be self-buffering himself, and continued. “Oh, I was… I was talking to another student about it and their roommate is a second-year and—”

A sharp, deafening noise came from the direction of the professor’s desk. The professor, a tall middle-aged man, was haphazardly adjusting his mic in an attempt to take control of his speaker situation. Though he had decidedly given up, the loud noise was enough to quiet and catch the attention of the audience which willed him to continue on.

“Sorry about that, everyone. And sorry for being late.” _You’re literally still one minute early_ , you thought to yourself. You could feel a smirk coming on from pretty boy’s direction. “I was stuck in traffic. Anyhow! Welcome to your first day of medical school. I am your professor, Dr. Na. For those of you that have already had your first class, congratulations. And for those of you that have not, I am honored to be your first official introduction to the world of medicine. Give yourselves a round of applause!” The class cheered, some just by clapping and others by obnoxiously cheering. You were just glad you actually made it this far.

“Okay, let’s settle down now. Just to be sure, this is a lecture class that’s a part of the biochemistry component of your studies. So please, be sure that you’re in the right place. Feel free to leave if you’re not.” He paused, waiting for any potentially misplaced bodies to leave the room. You looked around yourself, just out of curiosity and noticed some people’s heads swerving around doing the same. “Okay, I take it everyone is in the right place. I’ll have you all know that for the first couple of classes, I’m trying a new tech-free thing.” This was followed by a collective series of groans and the sounds of laptops being shut. Now, you could quite literally hear a small chuckle emitting from the stranger next to you, subsequently causing you to smirk as well.

“Now, now. This is not permanent. You won’t be parted from your precious technology for long. Once you leave lecture today, you will have full access to the online material and lectures as per usual. For now, I want to figure out what you know, to make sure I have your undivided attention, and for you all to get to know each other. This material is very vital to your survival of this class and you will find that your biggest asset in passing this class is each other.” He continued on his rant for God knows how long and eventually wrapped up to continue on with his lecture.

As soon as it ended, you began packing up until pretty boy interjected. “What’s next on your schedule?” You were inclined not to answer, mostly due to your taciturn nature less so than your previous bitter attitude. Heeding professor’s advice, you wanted at least one ally and the guy honestly did seem nice, prettiness aside, so you responded anyway as you continued to pack up.

“I have a two-hour break, then I’ll be returning back to campus to crack open some bodies.” You lifted your backpack and proceeded to the stairs. “Walk and talk?”

He nodded and followed behind. “Exactly same, actually. A two-hour break and then anatomy lab.”

“Who with?” You both began walking down the steps.

“I think Dr. Kim?”

“Come on, there’s like ten Dr. Kims, be a little more specific—” you wanted to end your sarcastic quip by addressing him directly, but quickly realized you didn’t know his name at all. “Hey, I think I didn’t catch your name earlier.”

“Oh, it’s—“

“Junmyeon! Y/N!” a booming voice interrupted. The sound appeared to be coming from behind, resulting in you simultaneously whipping your heads around at the sound of your and—what you assume to be—his’ names getting called.

A trio of smiling giants were stalking over. All were very familiar faces. The voice came from none other than Chanyeol, _of course_ , and the other giants at his side were Sehun and Jongin. You had met all three of them this past summer in a prep program hosted by the school. You weren’t quite sure how this Junmyeon guy knew them, though. You’re positive you would have remembered this face. You realized you hadn’t recognized him from the white coat ceremony either, though that was a complete blur in itself. With no time to think about it further, you were swiftly smothered by Sehun as Chanyeol and Junmyeon began to talk.

“Hey Chanyeol! The class is so big, I can’t believe I didn’t see you!” From the corner of your eye, you could see Junmyeon being similarly smothered into a hug by both Chanyeol and Jongin, causing you to notice that the man was quite short in comparison. A smidge shorter than you, even. The image was reminiscent of a pair of puppies attempting to share a stuffed toy.

“Nah, it’s alright. Let’s all sit together next time! Also, I didn’t know that you and Y/N knew each other too!”

“Y/N, is it? We just met actually. I was just about to see if Y/N wanted to have lunch or something before our next class.” You broke from Sehun’s hug momentarily to nod as a confirmation of your attendance. “Then it’s settled. Are you guys free too? What are your next classes?”

The others agreed to lunch as well, and on your way to the venue, you all exchanged schedules. You found that your lab would indeed be with Junmyeon and that you shared one or two other classes with the others as well. Soon enough, you were on your way back to campus carpooling with Junmyeon.

“So Junmyeon, how exactly did you guys meet? You all looked really close.” You glanced over at him.

“Do we?” He chuckled. “Believe it or not, but we’re all from the same undergrad. We weren’t all the same major, but since we were all pre-med track we ended up being in a lot of the same classes. And because I was an international student, it was great to have some people that I could relate to and ask for help from, you know?” You nodded. “We’re practically brothers at this point, so it’s really amazing and fortunate that we somehow got into the same med school.”

“It is. I don’t know anyone else from my pre-med program that goes here. Also, I’m sorry for earlier. I’m not sure if I came off really rude or not, but I was really stressed out and—”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” He beamed so bright that it was practically a driving hazard. “I kind of got that vibe. I just wanted to help.”

“Thank you.” You smiled back, though probably not nearly as radiant. “I seriously appreciate it. Ah, we’re here!”

You pulled into the parking garage, found a spot, and soon enough you were both back on your way to class. You spoke on your way there and had bonded over a couple of things. You had learned that he double majored in biology and art, which you found incredible that he was able to do all that plus pre-med in four years. He explained that the pre-med track was mostly to please his parents, though he did grow to genuinely enjoy biology. This, you could definitely relate to, since you had minored in photography. It was less intense in comparison to his full-blown major, but he reassured you that your feat was just as commendable.

Over the next few days, weeks even, you quickly learned that Junmyeon was an all-around great guy, just as you sensed from the moment you first heard his soothing voice. He became a great study partner, lab partner, and soon enough, an even greater friend. Your interest in him naturally grew with time too, given that you both had a lot in common and saw each other almost daily. But you had also learned that he had a girlfriend. A girlfriend of four years whom he lived with. A girlfriend who you apparently had interned with last year for an entire summer and became great friends with and continued to be great friends with. Thus, an idea of “something more” with Junmyeon died as soon as it started. No daydreaming about raising your future puppies together (though sometimes you can’t help yourself). And definitely, no move-making or subtle flirting allowed.

_The world was a little too small. And a little bit too cruel._


	2. 01

Having been in medical school for more than a couple of months now, you found yourself becoming steadily adjusted to your new environment, as well as your colleagues. Though you’ve developed a daily routine of sorts, you’ve decided it was time to accept some change, in whatever form it may come.

“Y/N, do you have any plans for tomorrow night?”

“I think I have a study session to attend tomorrow night, Johnny.”

Johnny Seo was one of the four people in your lab group. He’s known to be sweet, charming, good looking, etc. All of the stereotypical boyfriend goals wrapped up into one man. Though you claim to be one that doesn’t give into superficialities, you have eyes. And during your time with Johnny, throughout the semester, you’ve come to learn that his niceness is indeed genuine. Thus, you’ve become quite friendly with one another.

“Then how about tonight? I was thinking we could work on our anatomy. You know, considering the exam’s coming up and all.” His statement was followed by a sly smile and wink, both to which you reacted with a knowing smile. Quite friendly indeed.

“Oh? I might be free. I’ll have to check my schedule.”

A part of change meant accepting the possibility of change. Lately, you had been thinking about how it was time to put yourself out there more on all fronts. Though you’ve managed to will this commitment, you’ve been struggling with the realm of dating on account of a certain someone. And this, specifically, was a form of change that you needed, urgently, and planned to accept with open arms.

“You guys, we need to close the incision and wrap this up already. Lab is about to end so let’s get to work!”

“Yes, Junmyeon,” you and Johnny replied in unison; your voice, chipper, and Johnny’s, much less so.

It was true. Your inability to date was affected by this exact someone. Though to say, “ _by_ a certain someone”, it would most definitely imply more meanings than one. He was a cockblock. However, this case, as it is in all cases, was for a legitimate reason. It has become very easy to forget that your flirting hotspot was quite literally over a dead body. This happened to be included in your package of Great Change(™). A room that once filled you with unease now doused you in a healthy portion of indifference. This wasn’t a negative change at all, in fact, as you recall having grown up unable to attend your pet Mr. Gerbil’s–more like several Mr. Gerbils–funeral because the sight of it pained you so much.

With the lab now having come to an end, a very productive and non-flirtatious one at that, you began to thoughtlessly collect your things until the sound of your name caught your attention. Johnny was calling to you.

“Where are you headed to next? I’d love to walk you there.” Upon turning to face him, the image of his body turned quickly to that of Junmyeon’s.

“Actually, I had some important things to discuss with Y/N. Sorry, Johnny.” Taking a light hold of your arm, Junmyeon guided you towards and outside the door, all the way until open air was reached. Before you lost full sight of Johnny, you shot him a cute phone gesture with your free hand, then turned your attention to Junmyeon.

“What’s up, Junmyeon? Is something wrong?” He let go of you then shook his head.

“I was wondering if you’d be free later. I thought maybe we could catch dinner, but if you’ll be busy with Johnny,” he trailed off.

“No, no. I’m free! Yeah, I have a seminar to attend later today, actually, but I’ll be free after. We could get dinner together with Minjoo at the usual place and then–”

“Actually, Minjoo will be out getting drinks with some colleagues later, so I was thinking it could just be the two of us.”

_The two of us._ His words echoed hot in your ears. The words rolled off his tongue so perfectly and so naturally, that it was hard to recognize how foreign they truly felt. You couldn’t remember the last time you and Junmyeon ate alone like that. Despite this being such a simple gesture, the mere thought of being alone with him could surge you into panic. It was too intimate. Before you could delve further into your ruminations, your attention was suddenly pulled to the newly added weight around your shoulders, which was accordingly rerouted to its owner.

“I can’t believe you two left me like that,” Jongin sulked. “I was calling to you and everything! Are you planning something without me?” Jongin squeezed himself between you both, which, as a result, provided you with the much needed relief of both your literal and figurative distance from Junmyeon.

“Sorry, Nini!” You pouted then pat his head. “We were just talking about dinner. Do you wanna come with? We can invite the rest of the guys.” _For the love of all that is good **please** say yes_ , you begged inwardly.

“Yes!” He cheesed and clung to you both. You and Junmyeon sighed in unison; yours, sprouting from relief, and his, you chalked up to being from his disapproval of Jongin’s pouty nature.

“Great! I was just telling Jun that I have a seminar to attend, but I’ll be free later.”

Jongin continued to smile, releasing Junmyeon from his hold and took out his phone. “Okay! I’ll text the group chat about it and–”

“Wait,” Junmyeon interrupted, “just text the study group’s chat. Minjoo and them won’t be available anyway.”

“Oh, right! Sorry. Wouldn’t want to burden the GF now would we?” Jongin shook your arm playfully, to which you could only chuckle awkwardly and nod in agreement. _Junmyeon is a considerate boyfriend, you reminded yourself._ Minjoo was attending her first year of nursing school as well and to your knowledge, was currently in lecture. It would be annoying to blow up her phone over texts about an event she couldn’t attend, so not wanting that for her made perfect sense. And because she’s not available, of course dinner would have been just the two of you.

The three of you carried on walking like this, assembling the plan until you had to part ways. You attended your seminar, as scheduled, and then a few hours after, met the guys as planned at the venue. It was a little hole-in-the-wall Korean-Chinese fusion restaurant ran by an old Korean and Chinese couple. This place was littered in memorabilia. The walls were covered in photographs that symbolized their travels and were placed alongside maps of their hometowns. The small decorations surrounding the hostess’ podium were likely the knicknacks they picked up along the way. Though it was all very quaint, it reflected the couple perfectly. Just the overall vibe was enough to make you and your friends come back for more, though it was the food that held the most attraction. It reminded them of home. Though Junmyeon and Jongin were international students while the other two, Sehun and Chanyeol, were first generation Korean-Americans, it reminded them all the same.

Presently, on one side sat Sehun and Jongin with Junmyeon, Chanyeol, and you, respectively, sitting on the other. With the orders freshly put in, it left the lot of you to converse and catch up, starting with Jongin giving a retelling of how you and Junmyeon “abandoned” him, much to which Junmyeon sharply denied.

“It’s fine, anyways. I could tell Y/N was distracted.” The smile Jongin gave you was very suspect, as were the pair of wiggling eyebrows that accompanied it.

You slightly choked on your water, prayed that it wasn’t about what you thought it was, and cleared your throat in preparation to address this accusation. “Distracted by what? I’m focused, like, all the time.” You scoffed the best convincing scoff you could ever muster and rolled your eyes.

“You can’t fool me.” _Shit._ “I know what you were doing.” _Fuck?_

You raised your eyebrows in an attempt to feign innocent surprise. “And what exactly was that, Mr. future Dr. Kim?”

“Flirting!” Jongin crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat, wearing the biggest shit-eating grin. This was directly followed by a series of “Ooo’s” from the other guys and from you, silence as you desperately began to mentally formulate ten million excuses at once. Their voices, now emulating a parliament of owls, begged for an answer to which Jongin replied, “Johnny Seo from anatomy lab! I could see you from across the room, Y/N, don’t act coy!”

And in this moment, you felt like the biggest cliche. Of course he meant Johnny Seo from anatomy lab because you were quite literally flirting with Johnny Seo from anatomy lab. _Duh. Who else would it be?_ Before you could intercept in defense, Junmyeon spoke up in your place.

“Y/N’s dating life is none of our business. We can’t just pair Y/N with every guy in a one-mile radius just because they made eye contact.” You could nearly picture his eyes rolling with the way he dished that out.

Sehun sighed dramatically. “You’re such a dad! Y/N is one of the only people in our friend group that’s not dating. Of course we want to celebrate if we see any of them getting some action. It’s like,” he paused, “watching your kids ride a bike without training wheels for the first time, no?” A unison of “No’s”. “No? Well, you get my point!”

“Thanks for caring so much you guys,” you cut in. “Anyways, when are you all leaving town for Thanksgiving break? I was thinking we could squish in a last minute study session for our exams before we all leave next week.”

Chanyeol groaned and leaned on your side, unleashing his deadweight onto your body. “Please don’t remind me. We’ve been studying practically all month! Let’s do something fun instead.” _Conversation change successfully completed._

“About that, I meant to bring it up earlier, but Minjoo was thinking that we should get together next Wednesday night, with the rest of us, and hang out at our place. The five of us can meet earlier to study.”

Chanyeol jerked to the other side, probably now unleashing his weight onto Junmyeon. “Oh? As expected of our star couple!”

Though the conversation was cut short due to the oncoming plates of food, the plan was most definitely set in motion. The next two weeks flew by pleasantly and thankfully with no more queries about your dating life. However, following the dinner, you realized you forgot to contact Johnny. If it hadn’t been for the interrogation, you might’ve forgotten altogether. You had apologized and he did forgive you. He said that there was always next time, though at this point, you weren’t sure if you were actually ready for a “next time”. You’ve convinced yourself that in the meantime, studying should be your main priority.

__

For the party, you were on chip duty. Thanks to your laundry list of a schedule, which was now piled high with even more studying, chip pick-up found its way on the bottom of your list. In fact, it was the last thing on your mind, so much so that you didn’t remember until mid-lab on the day of the party. Jongin had offered to go with you when you had initially brought it up the week before, but could no longer go because of something else on his own schedule. This left Junmyeon to attend and he, of course, graciously insisted to which you gratefully obliged. Though your feelings for him were in a weird stage, you first and foremost considered him a friend and regretted not spending more time with him doing “normal” friend things. Since having rekindled your friendship with Minjoo, you, at the very least, wanted to be as good a friend to him as you are to her. Your closeness to him was nowhere near the same level. You wanted to get to know him on a deeper level beyond just your daily school-related woes. You wanted to know what he was like as a kid. You wanted to know if someone like him ever felt lonely. Honestly, you wanted to know everything, albeit the desire might have stemmed from your hidden feelings. Even so, you had no plans of overstepping your friendship. You cherished Minjoo too much for that. Thus, you were fine. Your relationship with Junmyeon would have to be satisfying enough the way it is.

__

Merely hours before the party, the study session had occurred. It went on swimmingly, though it might not be fair to call it just a study session. It consisted more of pre-gaming than anything else. A few of the guys had taken exams earlier in the week and at that point, greatly needed some loosening up, via alcohol of course. Usually a stickler about this sort of thing, Junmyeon himself couldn’t resist joining and eventually, you were all effectively buzzed by the time Minjoo and the rest arrived. Though Junmyeon was quite the social butterfly himself, his girlfriend was an even bigger one, and had invited a couple of the colleagues from the time she had missed dinner the week before in addition to your other mutual friends she was schooling with. Through her, you had already met Yixing and Jongdae, and now, got to meet Baekhyun, Irene, and Minseok.

You found yourself clicking the most with Irene amongst the new three, and spent the majority of your time speaking with her throughout the night. She reminded you slightly of Minjoo, though they did have their differences. Minjoo was lively and charming, but Irene was captivating and more relaxed. Irene had very soft features, similar to Minjoo, but there was a sharpness about them that made her seem more fierce in comparison to Minjoo’s mildness. However, the biggest difference would have to be Irene’s disdain for gaming. You would have thought she might get along well with Junmyeon, given that they both refuse to even touch an XBox remote, but their neglect of video gaming often left them only to speak, butting heads as a result. It was so outrageous, they could somehow even argue about the weather. You opted to speak with her originally to keep the peace in Minjoo’s stead, but instead discovered how well you got along.

Unfortunately, Irene was the first to leave, as she had an early flight and couldn’t afford to be hungover the next morning. This left you alone with Junmyeon… and a bunch of drunk medical and nursing students. Now crowned the “responsible one”, you forced yourself to stop drinking temporarily in the event that someone needed escorting home or if something went wrong. Minjoo had offered to let you use her room to nap or chill while everyone else was in the living room gaming, partying, and drinking, but Junmyeon offered his in case you wanted company. You weren’t exactly tired, so Junmyeon’s room it was.

Junmyeon’s room was very orderly and pleasing to the eye, as if taken directly out of someone’s Pinterest for their “dream bedroom”. Pictures of family and friends sat perfectly aligned on his dresser. His desk’s workspace was blank with his chair not one inch out of place. The trash can underneath was empty. His bed was tidily made, no dents or misplaced pillows. Minjoo’s room was organized very similarly and Minjoo was a neat person too, but there were all these little details that led you to believe that it was possibly too perfect. The difference was that her room felt lived-in. Junmyeon’s did not. You figured that he probably sleeps and stays in her bedroom, but has these separate rooms for the sake of privacy and convenience. This left you not only feeling uncomfortable, but also a bit jealous, which you knew was unjustified.

“You haven’t really been in my room much before, have you?” Junmyeon was calmly waiting for you, perched with his legs draped across the ottoman in front of his bed.

“No, not that I can recall.” He moved his legs over, making room for you as you came to sit down. “We usually study in the living room. Minjoo and I usually hang out in either hers or the living room, depending on if we’re gaming or watching TV or something.”

“Ah, I see.”

A bout of silence came on, causing nervousness to bubble inside you by the second. This was exactly what you were afraid of: silence, anxiety, and possibly rejection. This was likely worse than your initial fear of just one-on-one dinner time. However, the silence was pleasantly taken over, once again by Junmyeon.

“Should I get us some drinks?”

“Yes, please.” You sighed heavily upon his departure, not realizing you had been holding your breath the entire time. You had told yourself you wouldn’t drink anymore, but you needed this. You needed to calm down. You slapped your cheeks, hard, in order to get yourself out of the daze this situation put you in.

Upon Junmyeon’s return, you sat up straight in a weak attempt to appear casual, and gave him a friendly smile.

“Sorry I took so long. I was just checking on Minjoo and them.” _Minjoo. Right._ You’re not allowed to feel nervous. “She said that she and the guys were heading for the bar a few blocks down to watch a game or something? You can go if you like. I was gonna catch up on a couple of shows I never get to watch.”

You shook your head. “I’ll stay here with you–” Realizing your vaguely not-so-platonic word choice, you backtracked, “to watch the shows! You know, medical school. Like, no time for ourselves anymore, right?” You laughed boisterously and nudged his arm.

“Yeah! You’re right… It’s funny. We never get to hang out like this often, though we see each other all the time. Weird, isn’t it?” He looked at you with his doe eyes, smiling brightly and averted them to look down and opened your drinks. He took a sip before speaking. “When you’re here for fun, it’s usually not to see me, so… Thanks for hanging out with me today.” If his smile could get any brighter, it did.

“No problem, Junmyeon.” You nodded robotically, maintaining a stiff smile. On the inside, you wanted to scream. This is always what you’ve wanted, but you’ve never considered how he felt, so you had been avoiding him all this time. You wanted so badly to tell him this, but instead, you took a sip. A big ass sip, at that. It’s better to keep silent and just enjoy his company than to interject your own feelings.

“I know I can be a hardass during study sessions and all that, but I swear I’m fun! I have a couple jokes up my sleeves too, you know?” He winked (and you nearly died). “I’m not sure if you consider us friends, but–”

“Of course we’re friends, Jun! You’re such a great guy and everyone thinks you’re funny, I swear. I swear on my grandma’s cat that you’re funny, God… You’re great, you’re funny, you’re cute–” _Backtrack backtrack backtrack._ “Your cuticles are,” you grabbed his free hand, “shit, they’re amazing too.” You initially thought alcohol was a great idea to maintain and loosen yourself up, but instead you found yourself already blabbing within the minute you promised your own silence. It was a terrible idea. You released his hand which was followed by immediate panic for how to get out of this.

Instead of cruel rejection, he laughed and responded, “Thanks, Y/N. You’re all those things, but,” he lifted your hand closely to his face, as if inspecting it carefully, and accordingly caused you to pray he couldn’t tell how clammy your hands had become, “your cuticles need some work, but that’s okay.”

You both laughed and the night went on. You were able to get more of what you wanted without further assassination of your self-image, and got to know more about Junmyeon the Regular Person rather than Junmyeon the Diligent Med Student. During this time, you both continued to absentmindedly consume alcohol and in consequence, got unknowingly drunker and freer with your words.

“Now, Y/N, I don’t mean to pry, but I noticed you spent a lot of time with Irene tonight. Are you interested?” He raised his eyebrows and tilted his head inquisitively. During most events, your gaze usually finds him, often, but for once, you had been well distracted thanks to your new friend. But because of this, you didn’t realize he had looked your way.

“No, it’s not like that. She’s really nice, but–”

“O-oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to assume anything, it was just my observations.”

“No, I mean, I’m already interested in someone.” How quickly you let that slip pained you, but your traditional aversion for miscommunication somehow overruled even in your drunkest state.

“Oh? Who is she? Or he, or they, or…? Give me a hint, please?” He adjusted himself, leaning in closer with his eyes widening and him beaming in curiosity. You’d think this was the cutest shit ever if it wasn’t about him indirectly interrogating you about himself.

“Okay, one. ‘He’.” You so badly wanted to smack yourself for going along with it, but you at the very least hoped he’d stop asking.

“Johnny? Johnny Seo from anatomy lab Johnny?” He scooted closer in your direction, placing his head firmly into his palms.

“No.” You liked Johnny, though what you felt for him wasn’t romantic. Your affections were only toward the nosy pretty boy in front of you.

“One of the guys in our friend group?” You took a moment, deciding you’d think about it clearly this time and carefully weighed what might be worth sharing. You calculated that misleading him to believe it was someone else would be your best bet at avoiding the inevitable rejection and embarrassment that might ensue.

“Yes.” You winced, hoping he’d get colder rather than warmer.

“I wonder who that could be. There’s only two single guys in the group, Chanyeol and Sehun.” He hummed to himself. “Sehun? You two are close.”

You rolled your eyes. “You and Sehun are close too. Does that mean you like him?”

“No, I don’t like Sehun like that, so,” he paused. “I see.”

You sighed. He’s clearly not letting up. “Exactly. No more hints. No more guesses, okay?”

“Come on, please? I did say Chanyeol, too.” He leaned in even closer, removing one hand from his face to take another sip of his drink.

You now began to notice this closeness. He was mere inches from your face. He was dangerously close. “Are you trying to analyze me?”

“You’re avoiding the question. It’s just like last week!” He laughed breathily. “It’s Chanyeol.” He sat up straighter, moving away from your face. His expression was unreadable. It didn’t look like one of surprise, just acceptance or maybe apathy. This is what you wanted, but the fact of the matter is, you don’t actually want him to believe that. You could foresee him trying to make it happen, and that would simply cause you more pain.

“No, it’s not Chanyeol.” Junmyeon gasped, causing you to only just register what you’ve done.

“Y/N, this guy isn’t single? That just leaves…” He began to count with his fingers, to which you moved yours hold them in place to prevent further counting. You didn’t want to play anymore. He was too close.

“Please stop. No more questions, _please_ ,” you spoke sternly. You could feel your hands shaking around his, so you quickly let go. He had stopped. You couldn’t look at his face anymore. “I know I’m the worst at hiding my feelings, so I’d like it if you’d pretend to not know anything. I don’t want to lose the friendship I have with him.” You nodded to yourself, sure that your words were coming out right.

If there was one change in yourself that you’d want to reverse, it was your feelings towards Junmyeon. Every time he smiled, every time he spoke, every time he looked at you, just, anything… Your feelings never ceased. They only grew stronger, but it was time to let go.

You continued. “It’s too important.” You sat there, once again in silence. You wanted to check his expression, but only allowed yourself to listen to the sound of his breath. _Why isn’t he saying anything?_ “Sorry, I should probably leave.”

You stood up, beginning to attempt a search for your keys and wallet. But ending as soon as it started, you were instantly pulled back into your seat. You weren’t given much time to think, as within microseconds, you found a pair of arms wrapped around your torso. It didn’t take long to realize that they belonged to Junmyeon, and the seat you were sitting on, you also realized too, was quite literally Junmyeon. And the quickest realization was the sensation of a pair of lips. Also Junmyeon. It was bewildering, but as confused as you were, all you could manage to concentrate on was the soft feeling of his lips pressed against your own and that of his hands cascading down your hips.

_It was happening fast. And so fast, you worried it was going to stop._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posted ultra soon as promised lol!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this is short lol. It's just the intro! The first part will be up very soon. Also, this is my first multi part fic and fic I've done in a couple of months ! and my first time posting here ! so I hope!! things go as planned!! lmao!


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